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About this project

Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers, engineers, and supporters building the Global Village Construction Set- a modular, DIY, low-cost, open source, high-performance platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different industrial machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts.

The aim of the GVCS is to lower the barriers to entry into farming, building, and manufacturing. Its a life-size lego set that can create entire economies, whether in rural Missouri, where the project was founded, or in the developing world.

So Far we’ve prototyped 8 of the 50 Machines and we’ve been expanding rapidly. We are 100% crowd-funded. We have 400 True Fans that support our work monthly.

Please watch these videos if you are new to the project:

What
Makes the Global Village Construction Set so special?

Open
Source-
we freely publish our 3d designs, schematics, instructional videos,
budgets, and product manuals on our open source wiki and we harness
open collaboration with contributors.Low-Cost-
The cost of making or buying our machines are, on average, 8x cheaper
than buying from an Industrial Manufacturer, including an average
labor cost of $15 hour for a GVCS fabricator and using mail-order
parts.Modular-
Motors, parts, assemblies, and power units can
interchange.User-Serviceable
- Design-for-disassembly
allows the user to take apart, maintain, and fix tools readily
without the need to rely on expensive repairmen.DIY
- The
user gains control of designing, producing, and modifying the GVCS
tool set.Closed
Loop Manufacturing - Metal
is an essential component of advanced civilization, and our platform
allows for recycling metal into virgin feedstock for producing
further GVCS technologies - thereby allowing for cradle-to-cradle
manufacturing cyclesHigh
Performance - Performance
standards must match or exceed those of industrial counterparts for
the GVCS to be viable.Flexible
Fabrication - It
has been demonstrated that the flexible use of generalized machinery
in appropriate-scale production is a viable alternative to
centralized production.Open
Business Models - We
encourage the replication of enterprises that derive from the GVCS
platform as a route to truly free enterprise - along the ideals of
Jeffersonian democracy.Industrial
Efficiency - In
order to provide a viable choice for a resilient lifestyle, the GVCS
platform matches or exceeds productivity standards of industrial
counterparts.

Why
should I help fund this project?

This
Kickstarter push is aimed at the full testing, publishing, and
deployment of the construction toolkit - the Tractor, Compressed
Earth Brick Press, Soil Pulverizer, and Hydraulic Power Unit.

This
toolkit will establish a new high benchmark of efficiency for green,
low-cost housing construction - making natural building FAST and
CHEAP, rather than SLOW and EXPENSIVE. During field testing, we aim
to demonstrate $5 per sq. foot building costs, while staying within
industry standard construction schedules.

The
library of instructional material that we produce will make
replication a straightforward task. A first time fabricator with 3
days of training will be able to build this toolkit - empowering this
individual to transform the dirt beneath their feet into the material
needed to construct a home, school, store, hospital, office,
etc...

Half
of our Kickstarter funds will go directly to producing high quality,
clear, and comprehensive documentation of how to build these
machines. For each machine, this will include the design rationale, A
to Z instructional videos, 3d CAD files, 2d fabrication drawings,
exploded part diagrams, CAE analyses, machine-readable CAM files,
circuit diagrams, control codes for automated devices, scaling
calculations, the physics of why it works, and the cost + performance
comparisons to industry standards. We’ll also provide a user manual
that includes the operation, safety, maintenance, troubleshooting,
and repair.

The second half of the Kickstarter funding will go to rigorous field testing. We will be constructing
a 5000
square foot fabrication facility and 10 living units at Factor e Farm in Missouri. We’ll publish a full
energy accounting report, including embodied energy estimates for
materials and the “joules per day” of both biological (food
calories burned by humans) and electromechanical systems (fuel burned
by hydraulic power units) during the construction phase.

Should
I keep funding you after you meet your goal?

Absolutely!
The next stage of development for the Global Village Construction Set
is the rapid, open development of the next 8 prototypes. The Open
Source Microfactory is the 8 machines that it takes to transform
scrap metal into products of advanced civilization. The Open Source
Microfactory is a flexible fabrication platform that enables a wide
range of precision machining, cutting, welding, melting, casting,
grinding, and forming operations as well as the creation of
electromechanical devices. The Microfactory will allow for the
efficient DIY manufacturing of entire machines such as tractors and
brick presses - as well as the underlying components - such as
hydraulic motors, modern steam engines, electrical generators, nuts
and bolts, and microcontrollers.

Update: It is now about 24 hours left - what mark will we reach? We have already reached our goal - thanks to everyone. If you still want to back us - this is your last chance - or if you would like to provide long-term support, please consider supporting us through the 1000 True Fans campaign - with a small monthly contribution each month for 2 years.

FAQ

Have a question?
If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.

Pledge $32 or more

Represent. Get Beta Access + a GVCS sticker + a personal video thank you message from the OSE Founder published on this page.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2011

You selected

Pledge $48 or more

84 backers

Back It - Back the project on your own back with the first edition of the Global Village Construction Set T-shirt, in addition to the Represent Package. New reward, added by demand, at the 2-weeks-left mark.

Estimated delivery:Jan 2012

You selected

Pledge $64 or more

287 backers

Taste the GVCS. Get the Represent package + Punchout Magnet + deluxe data DVD of complete resource library for easy replication of the 4 machines, including instructional videos. The Punchout Magnet is a refrigerator magnet made from 3/4” punch-outs from the world's first, open source, 150 ton hole puncher - punched with tons of love during CEB Press and Tractor fabrication.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2011

You selected

Pledge $128 or more

34 backers

Visit the GVCS. Taste the GVCS package + admission to Factor e Farm for a visit on Visitor's Days to see the action with your own eyes.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2011

You selected

Pledge $174 or more

11 backers

Use the GVCS. Taste the GVCS package + Visit the GVCS + a solenoid controller board for the CEB press, including un-soldered components, milled on our own open source CNC Circuit Mill

Estimated delivery:Jul 2012

You selected

Pledge $256 or more

21 backers

Build Naturally. Admission to a one-day Natural Building workshop at Factor e Farm in 2011 + DVD documenting the natural construction with CEB, Straw, and Lumber, including modular house and workshop designs that can be adapted based on our designs. Includes hands-on experience: brick laying with CEBs and square bale insulation; assisting with lumber production with the Dimensional Sawmill, and square bale making with the Baler.

Estimated delivery:Jul 2012

You selected

Pledge $512 or more

12 backers

Consult. Build Naturally package + personal consultation regarding the Civilization Starter Kit applications with the Founder + reservation to a weekend retreat where you can experience the life at Factor e Farm.

Estimated delivery:Jul 2012

You selected

Pledge $1,024 or more

4 backers

Produce. Build Naturally package + an immersion experience of one day of personal coaching for you to do brick pressing, lumber production, or baling at Factor e Farm. We provide you with technical support, you do the actual work, with possibility of taking home the product.

Estimated delivery:Jul 2012

You selected

Pledge $10,000

0 backers

Housebuild. Produce package + 1 month of access to CEB press, tractor, pulverizer, and power units as a 'productive vacation' get-away at Factor e Farm. You get a chance to produce the materials to take with you.

Estimated delivery:Jul 2012

You selected

Pledge $10,000

0 backers

Go Deep. Access to user training workshops for any of the 50 GVCS machines as they become available + fabrication training workshops + other workshops as they are offered at Factor e Farm. This is for responsible individuals committed to re-skilling themselves in a deep way.